Importance of Resurrection in the Apostolic Gospel

Introduction to the Resurrection Chapter and Sermon Principles

0:21 Welcome to God's Word to Our Nation, a weekly broadcast bringing you a message of new life and liberty. This program is brought to you each week by the Grace Baptist Church of Canton. We believe that the gospel is God's word to this and every nation. Through the gospel, God has shown that our deepest need, the need for freedom from the guilt and power of sin, can be fully met by His Son, Jesus Christ.

0:46 Here now is pastor, author, and conference speaker, Albert N. Martin, with this week's message. Let us turn this morning to the great resurrection chapter in the Word of God. I refer, of course, to 1 Corinthians chapter 15.

1:06 1 Corinthians chapter 15. And I shall read in your hearing verses 1 through 19.

1:16 And I would ask you to note not only the things that are affirmed with respect to the word of God, but also to the historical validity of the resurrection and its place as an essential element in the gospel, but especially beginning in verse 12 and going through verse 19, the close logical connections that the apostle makes between a denial of the bodily resurrection in general and an undercutting of the gospel, and all of its distinctive blessings. Now I make known unto you, brethren,

1:59 the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain. For I delivered unto you, first of all, that which also I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures, and that he was buried, and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, then to the twelve.

2:41 Then he appeared to above five hundred brethren at once, of whom the greater part remain until now, but some are fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James. Then he appeared to James. Then to all the apostles.

2:56 And last of all, as to the child untimely born, he appeared to me also. For I am the least of the apostles, that am not fit to be called an apostle, because I persecuted the church of God. But by the grace of God I am what I am, and his grace which was bestowed upon me was not in vain, but I labored more abundantly than they all, and I am the one who is bestowed upon me. Yet not I, but the grace of God which was with me.

3:29 Whether then it be I or they, so we preach, and so ye believed. Now if Christ is preached that he hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you that there is no resurrection of the dead? But if there is no resurrection of the dead, neither hath Christ been raised. And if Christ hath not been raised, then is our preaching vain.

4:01 Your faith also is vain. Yea, and we are found false witnesses of God, because we witnessed of God that he raised up Christ, whom he raised not up, if so be that the dead are not raised. For if the dead are not raised, neither hath Christ been raised. And if Christ hath not been raised, your faith is vain.

4:27 Ye are yet in your sins. Then they also that are fallen asleep in Christ have perished. If we have only hoped in Christ in this life, we are of all men most pitiable.

Principle 1: The Necessity of Holding Fast to the Apostolic Gospel

4:47 I want you to work through this section of the Word of God with me in terms of three great principles that are fundamental. And they are found in this passage of the Word of God. The first one is found in verses 1 and 2. Now I make known unto you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you, which also ye received, wherein also ye stand, by which also ye are saved, if ye hold fast the word which I preached unto you, except ye believed in vain.

5:31 And the principle that the Apostle sets before us in these first two verses is this, that hearing, receiving, and holding fast to the apostolic gospel is a matter of salvation or damnation. Now do you see that in the verses? Hearing, receiving, and holding fast to the apostolic gospel is a matter of salvation or damnation.

6:11 You see how clearly he states that. I make known to you, brethren, the gospel which I preached unto you in my capacity as an apostle, and yet with a gospel perfectly consistent with the other apostles, and you received, that gospel, you stand in that gospel, and by that gospel you are saved, if you hold fast the word which I preached unto you,

6:54 except ye believed in vain. Whatever dealings you Corinthians have had with my gospel, whatever experiences you claim to have had in virtue of receiving, that gospel, it falls short of saving experience and virtue unless the gospel you heard, received, in which you now stand, you hold fast in the faith and obedience of it firm unto the end. One of the clearest statements of the necessity of persevering in the faith of the gospel if we are to be saved.

7:38 So the first great principle then that is set before us in this passage is that hearing, receiving, and holding fast to the apostolic gospel is a matter of salvation or damnation. It's a matter of life and of death. But then secondly,

Principle 2: The Heart of the Apostolic Gospel - Two Affirmations

8:04 see in this passage that the heart of the apostolic gospel is comprised of two fundamental, fundamental, affirmations. Both of these affirmations that comprise the heart of the apostolic gospel pertain to events in the life history of Jesus of Nazareth and their true significance as declared to us by God himself. And the apostolic gospel contains an affirmation of two basic facts and their significance as declared to us by God himself.

8:46 And it's holding to that which is a matter of salvation and damnation. And that's why I emphasize it. It is not enough simply to say, yes, I believe the affirmation of scripture, Christ died, Christ rose, and then to place your own significance upon those events. No, the God who records the events tells us their significance as well.

9:13 All right then, what are the two basic affirmations? Look at the text. Verse 3, I delivered unto you first of all that which also I received, that Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and that he was buried. I make that one unified affirmation, second one, and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures and he appeared.

Affirmation 1: Christ Died for Our Sins According to the Scriptures

9:47 What is the first affirmation that lies at the heart of the apostolic gospel? Paul said, I remind you of that which I preached unto you. Here it is. That Christ for our sins.

10:05 It is an affirmation concerning the death of Jesus of Nazareth. And we have in that affirmation four elements. Let's look at them very quickly. Number one, the office in which he died.

10:19 He does not say, my gospel is this, that Jesus died for our sins, though it was Jesus of Nazareth who died, but he places the emphasis upon his official office as the Christ. You see, Christ is not just a name like I have three names that identify me, Albert, Newton, Martin, but they are official titles that describe and define his office and function as the Savior of sinners. And when Paul says in this first affirmation, Christ died for our sins, he's underscoring the office

11:03 in which he died. Christ means the anointed one. It is the New Testament counterpart of the Old Testament Messiah. It is God's long-promised prophet, priest, and king.

11:19 God's final and glorious revelation to men. The one through whom God would redeem his people as that one anointed of God would bring about a redemption in his capacity as the anointed prophet, priest, and king. Prophet to teach us the will of God. Priest to sacrifice and intercede for us.

11:45 King to subdue his and our enemies and to reign over us in grace. And the office in which Jesus of Nazareth died was his official office as God's Messiah. But then notice the purpose for which he died. Christ died who paired four sins.

12:13 The purpose of his death had directly to do with our sins. What's up in this simple phrase is the whole reality of human sin as an effect, offense against God. Sin that demands death and judgment and punishment. Sin that is taken so seriously by God that nothing less than the enfleshment of the second person of the Godhead could give us a person adequate to pay the penalty for the sins of men.

12:55 Then we have the pattern within which he died. Look at the text. Christ, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures. Everything pertaining to his death for our sins was according to the pattern previously marked out by the Old Testament scriptures.

13:22 And what's the proof he really died? Look at the text. And was buried.

13:30 What they took down from the cross, was a corpse, a lifeless, bruised, blood-spattered, disfigured corpse. And his burial, his improvement was the proof that he really died. Now this is the first and fundamental affirmation of the apostolic gospel. Christ died for our sins according to the Bible.

14:01 He was buried. And listen, if you don't hear that, and receive it, and hold it, and move it, you will not be saved. You'll be damned.

14:22 That's what the scripture says. You say, you are the most arrogant man I've ever heard. My friend, blame my arrogance on my God.

14:33 My God is gospel. It's the instrument of our salvation. God be true. And every man a liar.

Affirmation 2: Christ Was Raised on the Third Day According to the Scriptures

14:55 But the heart of this gospel has a second affirmation. A second affirmation. And what is that second affirmation? The second affirmation is this.

15:09 Look at the text.

15:11 Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures and was buried. And that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures and he appeared. You see, to put it in temporal terms, Easter rests down upon Good Friday. If you misunderstand the significance of Good Friday, you'll miss the meaning of Easter.

15:53 That's why the gospel is called the preaching or the word of the cross. Paul could say, I determined to know nothing among you save Jesus Christ and him as crucified. If you and I do not understand the first affirmation, we'll never make sense out of the second. And so we are given the first Christ, Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures.

16:18 Now the second affirmation, and that he hath been raised on the third day according to the scriptures and that he appeared or that he was seen. Now notice again, four elements. The office within which he was raised, it's the same Christ of verse 3a. Christ died and he, Christ, he was raised as he was crucified in his official office as God's Messiah.

16:55 The one anointed to deliver his people is himself first delivered from the pangs and from the bonds of death. And it is within that office, his official office as Messiah that he is raised from the dead. Then the fact, the actual statement of his resurrection, he hath been raised on the third day. And what the translators here tried to do was to show the difference in the Greek tenses.

17:30 The tenses for death and burial are heiress. He died once for all, definitive. He was buried once for all, definitive, but he hath been raised. It's a perfect tense.

17:43 And as you Greek students know, that points to action, that is, the first day of his resurrection is the first day of his resurrection. He has been raised and the results of which continue on. And so he would die once for all. Once for all, he has been raised and in the resurrection state he now is and ever shall be to all eternity.

18:06 He hath been raised and maintains the reality of resurrection life and existence. And this on the third day, according to Jewish records, he was raised to the last day of his life, and he was raised to the last day of his life. And he was raised to the last day of his life for his resurrection and for the resurrection. The first day of his resurrection comes and the workout and the awakening buried on Friday part of the day is taken for the whole on the Jewish Sabbath.

18:33 That old Jewish Sabbath is with him in his tomb and it's buried and it never came out of the tomb. And on that first day of the week the risen Lord comes out of the tomb leaving the Jewish Sabbath in that tomb and bringing out of it with him the original day of resurrection. Day of rest, the Lord's Day Sabbath now bursting with all the glorious dynamics of the new creation. And on the third day, He was raised and remains the risen and the living one.

19:09 That's why when He appears to John in the book of the Revelation, He says, I was dead and I am alive forevermore. Forevermore, I was dead, but I am alive forevermore. The factual statement of His resurrection, it wasn't an idea, it wasn't a noble concept, it wasn't the springing forth of all of the life in the spring that somehow cast its life-giving ethos into the tomb. And though Jesus of Nazareth still lay on that slab, somewhere or another there is a religious spirit.

19:46 No, no, no, no, no. The one who died. The one who died, whose body had a spear thrust in it, whose blood could be felt if you put your hands there as it dripped down His dying form. That same Jesus came out of the tomb, alive forevermore.

20:06 And what was the pattern of His resurrection? Look at the text. According to the Scriptures, it happened exactly as the Scriptures said it would. And in the apostolic preaching, we don't have time to look at it, but you'll see in passages such as Acts 2, and then again in Acts 13, where they take Old Testament Scriptures and prove that the resurrection of Jesus was prophesied in the Scriptures.

20:34 Pattern of His resurrection like the pattern of His death, it accorded with the Scriptures. It was no notion imposed upon the Christian faith by overly enthusiastic first or second century zealots, as some liberals say. The humble Jesus of Nazareth never made great claims about Himself. It's His followers who did nonsense.

20:58 The Old Testament Scriptures pointed to the fact that the one who would die would be raised from the dead. And what was the validation of His resurrection? Four times the verb is used. He appeared.

21:13 He appeared. More literally, He was. He was.

21:21 You don't see notions. You don't see notions. You don't see phantoms. You don't see noble ideas.

Principle 3: Denying the Resurrection Destroys the Gospel

21:31 Now, we've looked at two principles and taken the bulk of our time. Briefly now, in closing, we look at the third. What was the first principle? We saw it in verses 1 and 2.

21:41 Hearing, receiving, holding fast the apostolic Gospels, a matter of salvation or damnation. Secondly, the heart of the apostolic Gospel is comprised of two fundamental affirmations. Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures and was buried. And He has been raised the third day according to the Scriptures and was seen.

22:08 Here's the third principle. The reception of any human opinion which cancels the validity of these affirmations of apostolic Gospel destroys the Gospel and leaves us with no hope. The reception. Of any human opinion which cancels the validity of the affirmations in the apostolic Gospel destroys the Gospel and leaves us without hope.

22:44 Where do we find that? Look at verse 12 and following. Now, if Christ is preached and He is, that He hath been raised from the dead, how say some among you there is no resurrection? The resurrection of the dead.

22:59 Paul had received word that among the Corinthians, whether church members or people infecting, trying to infect the congregation from without, whether these were perverse men from within, wolves from without, we have no way of knowing. In my study it's not uncovered anything definitive. But this much we know there were some who were saying there's no such thing as the resurrection of the dead. The concept of dead bodies coming to life is foolish.

23:26 And Paul goes on to say, You say, all right, you Corinthians, you want to flirt with that stuff? Let me tell you what it does. You flirt with that human opinion that there is no such thing as bodily resurrection. And this is what you do.

23:42 Verse 13. If there is no resurrection of the dead, if you accept the premise dead bodies can't come to life, then Jesus Christ who had a dead body, He can't come to life. And if Christ has not been raised, your faith is vain. You're yet in your sins.

Call to Faith and Conclusion

24:00 Yet in your sins. Now. I ask you as we close, do you, sitting there this morning, find yourself at peace in the knowledge that your only hope for life and salvation rests totally, unreservedly, in this Christ who died for our sins according to the Scriptures and was buried, hath been raised and stands in resurrection life according to Jesus Christ, and in believing that you had not received the resurrection of the dead? So, I want you to have faith and faith in Christ.

24:40 Believe that God is real, and that the resurrection of Christ will come to life. That the resurrection of Christ will come to life. I want you to know you're not following a cunningly devised fable, for he was seen. He was seen!

24:44 He was seen! He was seen! And eyewitnesses have borne witness to the reality of his resurrection. Is your only hope for life and salvation in that Christ and in what he has done in his own life history as interpreted by God himself?

25:06 It is that gospel which he receives as God's creation. That's the life-giving gospel which you can show to others. Is we hope to see Christ's resurrection? Is that what you are turning towards?

25:10 Receiving holiness is the alone instrument of your salvation and mine. But thank God it is the instrument of our salvation. Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ and thou shalt be saved. If thou shalt confess with thy mouth, Jesus is Lord.

25:35 And believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead. Thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation.

25:49 That brings us to the conclusion of this week's broadcast. Our speaker has been Pastor Albert N. Martin, and you've been listening to God's Word to Our Nation. If you would like to hear today's message again, or share it with a friend, it is available on audio cassette.

26:04 To order your cassette, simply call 1-800-722-3584. That number 1-800-722-3584. Once again is 1-800-722-3584. These cassettes are distributed by the Trinity Book Service.

26:20 God's Word to Our Nation is sponsored by the Grace Baptist Church of Canton. We have made this commitment because we believe that the only real answers to the many concerns of our society are found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. And we want to share those answers with you. In a moment, we will be giving you our number, and we encourage you to call and let us know if you've been helped.

26:42 The Grace Baptist Church is located on Michigan Avenue, two miles west of Interstate 275. Every Sunday morning, we have Bible classes for all ages, beginning at 945. Our worship services follow at 11 and again at 6 in the evening. You are warmly invited to join with us as we worship the Lord together.

27:03 If you need more information, you can call us at 397-2900. That number once again is 397-2900.

27:13 Thank you for tuning in, and please plan to join us again at this same time next week for God's Word to Our Nation.